I usually describe it this way:
Fender = violin;
Gibson = viola;
PRS = viola with a violin tuning, or vice versa.
In the end of the day we tend to use just violins and violas the way they were designed.
PRS are beautiful, masterfully crafted guitars, that somehow lack a distinct character. YMMV.

MakerDP
... 
However, I have discovered some really nice lower-priced guitars from G&L and Godin that have been getting a lot of love from me too. Sometimes a new instrument sparks some creativity. If you want to try something new, go to reverb.com and get a nice used one that you can sell for what you paid for it if it doesn't spark your flame.

I have 2 G&L guitars. The tribute ASAT was a little rough (fret ends needed polishing), but the tribute Ascari GTS was terrific right out of the box. Next, I'm looking at their new MIA Doheny. Schweeeet!
 
https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/26634-gl-doheny-review
http://www.glguitars.com/instruments/USA/guitars/doheny/
 

That is a gorgeous guitar Maartian! I have a Tribute ASAT that i really like but the pickups are hotter than your typical tele... kinda like a tele pickup and a P90 got together and made some babies. I also have a Tribute bass. Good stuff. 
 
G&L and Godin are smart in the way they cut costs on their lower-end guitars. It is my understanding that the G&L tributes use the same pickups and hardware and of course are imported from Asia. For Godin, they use all the same components too but the finishes are thinner and satin. That alone shaves at least $250 to $300 off the price because all those shiny deep finishes are very labor-intensive and take a long time to cure (and many people hold the opinion the thinner satin finishes are actually tonally superior.) Another way they save a little is the all-maple neck on my Session does not have a skunk-stripe. They also make ALL of their wood parts in Canada but they export the assembly... to NEW HAMPSHIRE of all places... lol. So you can honestly say a bottom-end Godin is an all-American guitar! 

Here's my actual Ascari. It's the MF-exclusive tri-pup version. Bought it on a SDotD for $350. Except for a pinhole-sized void in the inner finish on the bottom of the head stock (took me a couple of weeks to even notice it), the guitar was flawless. For the money, I feel like I stole it. I would not have been unhappy to pay list for it ($600 iirc). Amazing sustain for an Indonesian axe.
 

The 5-way switch is wired this way. Lots of different tonal possibilities. As do most, it suffers from a level drop when coil tapped. So, I've got 20 different choices: 10 with the buckers and 10 coil tapped. Wish I was good enough to make true use of all of that. 
 

 

MakerDP
Another way they save a little is the all-maple neck on my Session does not have a skunk-stripe.

I’ve a couple of relatively recent (post 2000) Fender Teles without skunk stripes, one a 60s reissue with a rosewood board and one with a maple neck and separate maple board.

The reason Leo Fender put the stripe in was to save money. A truss rod had to be slotted into a solid one-piece maple neck/fingerboard somehow or other, and the alternative of drilling a long hole was more complicated to do and presumably more expensive. So instead his design took a length of maple, machined a slot out of it, fitted the truss rod into that then plugged the slot with a contrasting length of (I think) walnut. After which the neck went to be band-sawed, machined and sanded into shape.

When Fender moved to rosewood fingerboards in the early 60s the skunk stripe disappeared because on a neck with a seperate fingerboard the truss rod slot could be covered by the fingerboard so the stripe wasn’t needed.

Leo Fender was a genius at working out what was really needed for performance, what was the least expensive way of doing things at the factory and then combining the two into a solid marketable product.

Interesting history lesson tlw! Thanks for that.

And Leo wasn't even a guitarist!

1) Yes
I used to submit music to Taxi and I remember one of the 'regulars' there telling me, in response to a similar question to yours, that if I couldn't play to a click-track, I didn't deserve to be making music (that told me). I'm with Voda though. I prefer a drum, but if I use a click I keep the volume way down so that it doesn't turn my performance 'mechanical'.
2) Yes
Sometimes I start with piano; sometimes guitar; sometimes just voice. I rarely use the first mix/writing mix as the final project - I prefer to re-record everything when I'm happy with the song structure.
 
Mettelus, that's a sad footnote to your post. :(

Slugbaby
And Leo wasn't even a guitarist!

Ah, but he talked to lots of guitarists and listened to what they had to say about what they wanted and why they wanted it.

And he turned apparent negatives into positives. That weird maple bolt-on neck not only used less wood but was obviously far quicker and easier to machine and assemble than a traditional dovetailed glued joint. When it was introduced, attached to a guitar-shaped flat slab of ash, it attracted some criticism from the “traditionally” minded (and still does).

But Fender pointed out it had a big advantage over his rival’s mahogany glued-in necks:-

1. Maple is much stronger than mahogany to start with.
2. The in-line head provides enough string angle over the nut without the head having to tilt backwards or be scarfed on.

So when your Fender falls over, unlike those fancy G****n L*s P**l mahogany dovetailed necks with their tilted-back headstock that everyone is paranoid about snapping, that straight length of maple might dent but it won’t break. And if you do ever manage to snap the neck, the fix is easy, cheap and quick. Just order a replacement neck and bolt it in.

The man was truly a genius.